Neb. Gets More Than $247,000 in Google Settlement

(AP) — Officials say Google will pay Nebraska more than $247,000 as part of a $17 million national settlement over consumer tracking.

Attorney General Jon Bruning announced Monday that Nebraska is one of 37 states and the District of Columbia receiving a portion of the settlement, which involved allegations that Google was improperly tracking data on Safari.

Google is accused of using coding to circumvent default privacy settings on Safari without consumers’ knowledge or consent. Such coding allowed the company to gather information like online surfing habits, despite consumers’ opting out of having third-party advertising tracking, or cookies, set on their browsers.

The company disabled the coding in early 2012 after the practice was widely reported.

Nebraska’s share of the money will be deposited into the State Settlement Fund.